Leading from the heart to compel a choice

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today explore how we understand God through our internal experiences.



The Prophet Jeremiah describes a Covenant wherein the Law is written on our hearts.

* [31:31–34] The new covenant is an occasional prophetic theme, beginning with Hosea. According to Jeremiah, (a) it lasts forever; (b) its law (torah) is written in human hearts; (c) it gives everyone true knowledge of God, making additional instruction (torah) unnecessary. The Dead Sea Scroll community claimed they were partners in a “new covenant.” The New Testament presents the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as inaugurating a new covenant open to anyone who professes faith in Jesus the Christ. Cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; Heb 8:8–12. Know the LORD: cf. note on 22:15–16.

The Gospel from Matthew describes Peter’s Confession at Caesarea Philippi and the way this sets the stage to compel us to respond to Jesus’ question.

* [16:13–20] The Marcan confession of Jesus as Messiah, made by Peter as spokesman for the other disciples (Mk 8:27–29; cf. also Lk 9:18–20), is modified significantly here. The confession is of Jesus both as Messiah and as Son of the living God (Mt 16:16). Jesus’ response, drawn principally from material peculiar to Matthew, attributes the confession to a divine revelation granted to Peter alone (Mt 16:17) and makes him the rock on which Jesus will build his church (Mt 16:18) and the disciple whose authority in the church on earth will be confirmed in heaven, i.e., by God (Mt 16:19).

Chas Kestermeier, S.J. describes the experience of the law of the Spirit, calling us not to what we must do but to an attentiveness and  generosity that allows us to follow God in every situation, not only those spelled out in the Law. This is a different sort of obedience, not a blind obedience but a mature and personal one which seeks a God who never stops leading us forward.

We Christians live not in absolute obedience to a written Law, especially not one spelled out in such detail; as much as we can and as imperfect as our efforts may be, we put ourselves in the hands of our Father, imitate His Son, and follow the Spirit.  This calls for very personal prayer, the kind of poverty of self which the Beatitudes call for (Matthew 5:1-12), and a life rooted in the cardinal virtue of hope.

Cullen Murphy in the December 1986 Issue of The Atlantic writes a comprehensive article based on addressing the question of Jesus “who do men say that I am?”.

Friar Jude Winkler explains the understanding of the heart by the people of the time of Jeremiah. The Authority of the successors of Peter is the rabbinic power of binding and loosing. Friar Jude observes that Peter’s faith is inconsistent. He is a weak man easily shaken. We often have doubts. This is normal for humans. Like Peter, we hold on to the Lord.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that Life and grace seem to move us along, often without our notice, toward greater maturity, inclusivity, and nondual wisdom. Perhaps this pattern of self-discovery of one’s true name in God is the heart of initiation (see Revelation 2:17).

Much of modern American and European cultures have unfortunately lost the universal tradition of initiation, and there are now few true elders to lead us onward. Instead of rites that encourage us to let go and begin anew, we are urged—both by the Church and by Western society—to perform better, to do the “right” thing, and to be even more successful. We gun our already existing engines. I believe that without some inner experience of powerlessness, and the wisdom that potentially comes with it, most individuals will misunderstand and abuse power. This is “the folly of the cross” that the Apostle Paul describes (1 Corinthians 1:18).

After all, life is not a matter of creating a special name for ourselves, but of uncovering the name we have always had.

References

(n.d.). Jeremiah 31:31-34 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 9, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/31

(n.d.). Matthew 16:13-20. Retrieved August 9, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/matthew16.htm

(n.d.). Creighton Online Ministries - Creighton University. Retrieved August 9, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html 

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 9, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/